Coming down to modern times, there are, as far as we are aware, but two existing otterhound packs entirely composed of pure, rough-coated otterhounds. All other establishments employ mixed packs. Cross-bred hounds are usually the result of a union between a pure otterhound bitch and a foxhound. The majority of foxhounds which find their way to the otterhound kennels have been drafted for over-height, age, or faults. They are often presented to the M.O.H., or he buys them at a low figure. Having purchased or otherwise got together sufficient hounds to make a start, you can gradually weed them out, retaining the best workers for future breeding operations. It is perhaps unnecessary to state that you must have a couple or two of entered hounds to begin with, otherwise you are likely to walk as far as the Rev. Jack Russell did before you find an otter. As regards cross-bred hounds, the first cross may be capital workers, but it is doubtful if much good comes from breeding from them.
One sees all shapes, makes, and sizes of rough hounds in the various packs, but the best bred ones are big, upstanding animals, from twenty-two to twenty-four or more inches in height. Speaking from our own experience, we have found the majority of rough hounds to be much more clumsy and less active than foxhounds. Their feet, too, are often inclined to be open and flat, and they lack the heart and stamina of the foxhound. There are, of course, exceptions, and we have come across rough hounds that were capital workers, but take them all round they are too big and clumsy, at any rate for work on rough, rocky streams. Despite their rough jackets, they suffer from the effects of long immersion in water far more than the foxhound, whose short, smooth coat is dry after a shake or two. In addition they are not such good doers as the foxhound, and require more attention after hunting. They are also apt to be quarrelsome in kennel. Many of them possess extremely fine noses, and can speak to a line a day or two old, but this is of no practical help in hunting, because it is impossible to drag up to an otter that has been so long gone. They swim well, and often draw well when swimming, but the foxhound is quite their equal in this respect. In our experience the hound that can wind his otter across the stream and go straight to him is more often a foxhound than a rough hound.
A Famous Otterhound, Mr. W. Thompson's "Snowdrop."
(Photo by R. Clapham).
Some of Mr. W. Thompson's Rough Otterhounds.
(Photo by R. Clapham).
To face p. 116.